


chubs

by soobeans



Series: weightlifting fairy (of shampoo) [1]
Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Choi Soobin Is Bad At Feelings, Confident Choi Soobin, Huening Kai Being A Little Shit, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Not Beta Read, Protective Choi Beomgyu, Protective Choi Soobin, Whipped Choi Yeonjun, loosely inspired by weightlifting fairy, protect choi yeonjun at all costs!!!!, soobin is not athletic had to keep it somewhat realistic LOL, soobin low key ooc but i like to believe he isn’t as shy as he’s put out to b
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29784024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soobeans/pseuds/soobeans
Summary: Soobin hates swimming with a burning passion, but that doesn't mean he hates swimmers.or;Soobin works at the university gym's front desk and falls in love with the swim team's captain.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Series: weightlifting fairy (of shampoo) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2206911
Comments: 16
Kudos: 161





	1. pre-meet season

**Author's Note:**

> shoutout to the vlive on 2/27/21 where yeonbin revealed that they call each other "chubs" fsfdsgs
> 
> if you're not familiar with weightlifting fairy, it's a k-drama, and "chubs" is a cute nickname used by the male lead to the female lead!! i can't believe this one thing lead me to writing my first txt fic lol :,)

Soobin had this fantasy of what his life would look like after moving out of the dorms. He imagined himself living in a cute little apartment with his best friends Huening Kai and Taehyun instead of his nasty roommate who always sexiled him, working at the cute little cafe right off of campus just so he could snag some free pastries, and dating a cute little upperclassman to fulfill his currently (and continuously) empty love life.

However, hitting his junior year, his fantasy was nothing like reality.

Well, he was able to get an apartment with Kai and Taehyun - he was grateful he could check that off his list - but the apartment was all "little" and no "cute". The bathroom had small patches of mold in the corners that were nearly gone, thankfully Taehyun is a mad scientist (" _Chemistry major_ , Soobin, please," Taehyun would always correct.) and was able to come up with concoctions to slowly get rid of them, and don't get Soobin started on the appliances. The building they were living in was several decades old and though it made up for cheap rent, it came with nearly broken appliances that would cost the boys an arm and a leg to get them all fixed, especially the heater.

Kai was fulfilling part of his fantasy for him by picking up a part-time job as a barista at his favorite cute little cafe. He would often stop by either to study with Taehyun, eat several of their chocolate croissants that he was _obsessed_ with, or just sit and watch his favorite dongsaeng live out his college dreams for him (enviously and proudly, of course). 

Taehyun barely had time to get any more hours on his tutoring job due to his crazy class schedule to become a mad scientist ("Soobin, call me mad scientist _one more time_ and I'll-" Taehyun would _always_ growl. And to that, Soobin would teasingly sing the _Bill Nye the Science Guy_ theme song, in which he would receive a well-deserved beating.) and his weightlifting club. The blonde often hid his physique behind chunky clothes, but despite his small stature, he could probably lift Huening Kai and Soobin at the same time if he wanted.

But that’s beside the point.

The dilemma here is that on top of paying for rent, the boys needed to save up enough money to fix their heater if they wanted to survive the upcoming winter, and they weren’t going to reach that goal any time soon if Soobin couldn’t find another job before the end of September.

“Why don’t you come work with me at the café, hyung?” Huening Kai suggested. They were all sitting in the library studying. Though classes had just started a week ago, the professors had been merciless and didn’t waste any time handing out assignments.

“If I were studying education like you, Huening-ah, then maybe,” Soobin sighed, “but psychology doesn’t give me room to work 20 hours a week. I need something more flexible.”

Taehyun looked up from his laptop. “Why don’t you come join the writing center with me to tutor? It’s a student job, the hours are super lax.”

Soobin sighed even louder. “That’s too _little_ hours. Plus, that’s just too much additional brainpower I’m going to have to use on top of all this.” He gestured to the mess of papers spread across the table with diagrams of brains and word flow charts.

Huening Kai shook his head. “So, you want a job that requires little effort and flexible yet decent hours? Does a job like that exist?”

The three sat in silence for a while, abandoning their work as they try to brainstorm other possible jobs Soobin could apply to.

Just as he was about to give up, Soobin startled in his seat as Taehyun slammed his hands down on the table. The papers flew everywhere, Huening Kai fell backwards in his chair from how scared he was, and the footsteps of possibly the librarian was nearing them. Soobin stared at Taehyun in annoyance as they were definitely about to be kicked out – they had _barely_ started the semester and they already got themselves into trouble.

“Taehyun, what the hell-“

“I know a job just for you.”

***

As they were being hauled out the library, Taehyun explained to Soobin that there was an opening for an assistant at the front desk of the university’s gym, in which Taehyun obviously frequented because he works out almost all the time, and Soobin obviously had never set foot in because he hates any sort of exercise with a burning passion.

(“I just remembered my coach talking about it during practice one night. The gym has been desperate because no one has been applying,” Taehyun had said.

Huening Kai wiggled his eyebrows and added, “How could no one apply? The gym is literally full of hot men-“

“And women,” Soobin cut in. Huening Kai rolled his eyes. “We get it, you’re bi. Anygays, the gym is literally full of walking eye candy! I say the job has more perks than drawbacks. If I didn’t already have work, I’d take it.”

“I would’ve taken it if I didn’t have a boyfriend, but Beomgyu is much easier on the eyes than the guys at the gym.” Taehyun smiled shyly and Huening Kai shoved him gently in irritation, complaining how he didn’t need to rub it in that he’s the only taken one out of the three.

“I don’t know a single thing about gyms or working out, what good would I be?”

Taehyun shrugged. “They’ll train you, of course. It’s a desk job, it can’t be that hard.”

“HOT. GUYS. Soobin, are you hearing me? You could fulfill your third fantasy! Get a boyfriend!” Huening Kai yelled. To Soobin, he more-so screeched. He sighed.

“I don’t know, this doesn’t sound-“

“The job comes with free food from the gym’s café,” Taehyun announced, shoving a digital flyer of the job opening on his phone in Soobin’s face.)

Without too much convincing (all thanks to the free food), Soobin landed the job. It wasn’t that hard, considering 1. No one applied, 2. No one applied, and 3. No one applied. His boss Namjoon – a clumsy yet trustworthy authoritative figure – gave him a quick tour of the gym after the interview. The gym consisted of three floors with the ground floor holding the locker rooms, a few studios, and the weightlifting room, and the second floor with a basketball court, basic gym equipment, a lounge and a pool. Soobin enjoyed the lounge the most (if the café didn’t count), because it gave a nice view of the pool and smelled the least like sweat.

Namjoon ran him through his tasks: swipe cards of those who enter the gym, check emails, pick up the phone, sign people up for memberships and answer anyone’s questions whenever they come up. If he had downtime, he was allowed to study behind the desk. He was also allowed to pick and choose his hours.

Taehyun was right. This job was _perfect_. How much better could it get?

***

His shifts were usually early in the morning or late at night. Soobin would always get a bagel or a cookie from Arin at the café, who he quickly became acquainted with. The first few weeks were a bit rough trying to get adjusted on top of the semester starting and everyone having the free time to use the gym’s necessities to their advantage. Taehyun had practice at night and often would bring Soobin a frappe, mostly out of pity because Soobin looked like he wanted to die, but he would often bring his boyfriend sometimes and the two would talk while Beomgyu would wait loyally for his significant other. It disgusted Soobin to see love that cute.

Huening Kai started coming as well, to Soobin’s surprise. (“I’m here to pretend to exercise while I scope out for my future husband,” Huening Kai would say.) Sometimes, all three would come by and Taehyun would force Beomgyu and Huening Kai to _actually_ work out, to Soobin’s amusement.

However, after those first few weeks, the crowd died down and his trio of friends came less often due to upcoming exams. Soobin had a lot of downtime and no one to talk to other than Arin before his shift would start, or Namjoon if he wasn’t in in a meeting in his office.

Soobin would use his downtime to walk around the premises. It was actually part of his job, to make sure no equipment was broken or that a random student was using a studio for purposes other than working out (he would catch people sleeping in there for whatever reason, and instead of kicking them out like protocol, he would kindly lead them to the lounge).

He mostly liked going to the lounge, now that he thought about it. When he first got toured around, he saw a lot of people through the glass windows looking into the pool. Namjoon had informed him that it was swim team tryouts.

“Our swim team is our best team out of all the sports we offer here,” Namjoon had mentioned. “They win a lot of competitions and have set a lot of records. Some Olympians have been born from this team.”

Soobin stared in awe, the pool having a more god-like vibe than before. Not just because legends came from that room, but Huening Kai was right. The guys at the gym were eye candy _indeed_. One swimmer in particular had hair colored just like cotton candy that Soobin couldn’t help but keep his gaze on him a little longer. Namjoon had noticed and chuckled.

“That’s Yeonjun, Choi Yeonjun. Captain of the swim team.”

The pink-haired boy – _Yeonjun_ , Soobin now knew – was on the other side of the pool, standing just at the edge. He looked like he had just gotten out of the water with his hair slicked back and droplets glistening against his milky-white skin. He wasn’t muscular or extremely buff like most guys he saw. Yeonjun had just a hint of an ab-line and a slight curve in his arms. He was lean and perfect and Soobin almost choked because he forgot how to breathe. Also, because in the middle of what looked like Yeonjun directing the potential swim team members what to do, he had made eye contact with him.

It was only for a good second, but Soobin could have sworn that Yeonjun gave him a small smile and winked. Soobin blinked rapidly and rubbed his eyes. Yeonjun was back to commanding. It must have been all in his head.

Since then, he harbored a huge crush on the swim team captain. During his first couple weeks on the job he would have hoped to have seen him outside a pool setting, but no avail, either Soobin was too busy with other students, with his friends bothering him on the clock, or he was on break. He only ever saw the back of Yeonjun’s head as he got his card swiped by Namjoon, disappearing into the pool room with his team. He had begun to think that maybe fate just wasn’t on his side and wasn’t going to give him the k-drama meeting he dreamt of.

Instead of standing by the lounge watching an empty pool, Soobin decided to walk in for once. He would usually watch the swim team during their practices during his break, but because most of their time was spent underwater and his breaks were short, Soobin rarely got to see his favorite pink-haired swimmer for more than a few minutes. It was always worth it though, to see Yeonjun lead the team through strokes and practice races with a beautiful smile, even if it was for a short time. Sometimes, Yeonjun would see him, and Soobin would choke on his free pastry every time because Yeonjun would either smile softly, wink at him, or give him a tiny wave, all of which caused a heart attack, equally.

He crouched down at one of the corners of the pool, skimming the surface of the water with his finger lightly. Soobin usually hated water and mostly liked to admire it, as he never learned how to swim. He wondered how Yeonjun would be able to be with someone like him, who detested the idea of just being in the water. He scoffed and shook the thought out of his head. _He doesn’t even know you outside of the weird glass window relationship you two have, what makes you think you’ll end up with him?_

Soobin sighed and just as he was about to stand up and leave, a voice called out, “ _Water_ you doing over there?” And with a yelp, Soobin slipped and fell into the water. Unfortunate enough that he fell in the deeper end where his feet couldn’t even touch the bottom.

He flailed around, slapping his hands and kicking his feet wildly. He could barely blubber out, “I can’t swim!” before feeling himself sink deeper into the pool as his floating technique was clearly not working. Within all the panic, before he could drown an embarrassing death, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around his chest, dragging Soobin back above the water.

“Hey, I got you, it’s okay.”

Soobin tried blinking the water away from his eyelashes, but since he wasn’t used to water with chlorine, he could only keep them shut. He was still in the water, but he couldn’t see much as it was still early morning and the sun shining in from the outside was quite harsh. _Am I dead? Am I in heaven? God, is that you?_

He heard a chuckle behind him. “I’m not God, but I’d like to think I’m pretty damn close.”

 _Shit,_ Soobin thought, _stupid brain not functioning properly. Thoughts are supposed to stay in your head, not out your mouth. I did not take Psychology to be this stupid._

Soobin groaned as the stranger laughed, then realized he was embracing this stranger quite closely. His arms were wrapped around what felt to be a neck and his toes were now barely touching the bottom of the pool. He felt a hand leave his waist and fingers swipe across his eyes, attempting to remove the water from Soobin’s face as his eyes were still shut. He finally opened them and nearly almost drowned himself again.

His savior was none other than _the_ Choi Yeonjun.

Soobin’s face went red and he hid his face in the crook of Yeonjun’s neck. “I’m so so sorry, this is so embarrassing, I’m literally a grown man and can’t swim and you had to waste your time to save my ass and-“

Yeonjun laughed again, the sound engraving itself in Soobin’s mind. The glass windows often blocked sound from the pool room, so this was the first time he’s heard Yeonjun’s voice, and it was as pretty as he looked.

“No, it’s my fault for scaring you. The more important thing is, are you okay?”

Soobin nodded into Yeonjun’s neck, still too embarrassed to even make eye-contact with the swimmer. “I’m okay, thank you for saving me,” he mumbled.

“I’m no lifeguard, but I can’t have anyone drowning in my pool, especially you,” Yeonjun says with a small chuckle. “Now, let’s get you out of here.”

Yeonjun helps Soobin out of the pool and the taller trudges towards the bleachers, sitting down all damp and cold. Yeonjun was sporting red trunks, which weren’t the team’s official swimwear. “There wasn’t swim practice today,” Soobin said questioningly. Yeonjun climbed out of the pool and looked down at his trunks.

“Oh, yeah, I came to do some laps on my own time. You’re lucky I had just finished up.” The pink-haired looked up at Soobin and grabbed a stray towel nearby, throwing it around the shivering boy and rubbing it up and down his upper body. “You poor thing,” Yeonjun cooed, bringing the towel up to Soobin’s hair. Soobin was not sure how to react _at all_ to Yeonjun taking care of him like this. He could’ve just left him to tend to himself, and yet here he was? Using his precious time like this on a guy like Soobin, someone he didn’t even know other than the guy that stared at him during his practices? Oh, that’s right, he doesn’t even know his name.

“I’m Soobin. Choi Soobin,” the black-haired blurted out as Yeonjun finished drying him up. Yeonjun raised his eyebrows at him and the corner of his lips quirked up. “Ah, finally, a name to put to the new cute guy at the front desk. Y’know, for a while, I just called you ‘chubs’.”

At that nickname, Soobin frowned, despite blushing at also being called cute. “’Chubs’?”

“It’s because when you’re eating and watching my practices, your cheeks puff out all squichy and chubby,” Yeonjun explained with a giggle, reaching down to pinch Soobin’s cheeks for emphasis. Soobin was _not_ expecting this much skinship and he wasn’t sure whether he was thriving or dying. “Do you not like the nickname?”

Soobin shook his head immediately. “N-no, it’s… interesting.” In a moment of bravery, Soobin reached out to Yeonjun, poking his cheek with his finger. “If you’re gonna call me ‘chubs’, then so should I, you literally have cuter cheeks than I do.”

He didn’t take Yeonjun to be the shy type, but here he was, blushing and stepping away from Soobin’s space, mumbling that he was going to grab him some new clothes from the locker room before shuffling out the door. Soobin wanted to see that side of Yeonjun more, and he wanted to be the cause of it.

***

Yeonjun had lent Soobin his own clothes, a light blue hoodie and jeans that fit a bit too tight on him. Not his normal style, but it smelled so Yeonjun-like, slightly musky yet floral-y, so he didn’t complain.

“Thank you, Yeonjun-sunbae,” Soobin said as they started to head back to the front desk. Namjoon was definitely going to question why he was gone for more than five minutes, but it was worth the trouble.

Yeonjun had given him the clothes he was wearing before entering the gym, so he was donning his team hoodie and sweats. Soobin had swooned at the sight anyway, as the elder – “Don’t ‘sunbae’ me, call me hyung,” Yeonjun said as Soobin had found out as they were changing that Yeonjun was a year older than him, graduating this year as nutrition major – looked quite boyfriend material in his teamwear.

“Does that mean I’ll see you more often?” Soobin asked hopefully. He slipped behind the front desk, seeing Namjoon in his office in an intense phone call. 

Yeonjun leaned his arms against the desk, teasingly close to Soobin’s face. “I’ll make sure to get my card swiped by you from now on.” He grabbed one of Soobin’s hoodie strings, tugging on it gently. “Besides, you have my clothes. You’ll have to return them eventually, right?”

With that, the swimmer sauntered away with a wink. Soobin watched him exit the gym, his face blushing intensely at what had just happened. Either Yeonjun was really into him (which he found hard to believe) or he was just naturally flirty, which made more sense in his head, but either way, with Yeonjun having now implemented himself in his life, he wasn’t sure he would be able to survive.


	2. meet season (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not me procrastinating my finals to write this
> 
> also i have no idea how swimming competitions work or how swim seasons are laid out aside from the bit of googling i did so nothing is like 100% accurate ofc
> 
> and tw: mild homophobic language, it's super brief but pls do read with caution :,)

“So, like… are you two dating or something?”

It was a breezy yet sunny Sunday morning in October. Soobin adored the fall, with the leaves changing colors and the weather turning slightly cold and crisp enough for him to throw on sweaters and sip hot cocoa as much as he wanted. Yeonjun also loved the fall, said that he liked to play around with his looks and layer his outfits with a nice coat. It was starting to get colder, though, and the boys were still nowhere near their goal of repairing their precious heater.

Him and Taehyun were occupying a table inside Huening Kai’s café, lightly studying and chatting, but mostly chatting. Huening Kai had asked him the question, striding over from behind the bar and handing Taehyun his drink. The café was quite empty, as Sundays were one of the days that the place tended to run slower than usual.

“Yeah, you talk like he’s your boyfriend or something,” Taehyun chimed in, sipping on his fresh caramel macchiato.

Soobin’s ears turned red as he frowned. “I do not!”

“Tell that to my phone messages,” Huening Kai snorted. He began to mimic Soobin’s voice in a high tone. “ _Oh my God, Huening, Yeonjun-hyung brought me my favorite sandwich from the gym café for dinner today before practice. He’s sooooo sweet!_ Ugh, BARF.”

“You think your texts are invaded with Yeonjun-this and Yeonjun-that?” Taehyun sneered. “Soobin does _not_ shut up about the day that Yeonjun-sunbaenim handed his phone instead of his card, asking for his number. I had to hear that in three different forms: text, calls, _and_ in person!”

Soobin groaned, hiding his face between his hands. Couldn’t his friends cut him some slack for crushing on someone for once in his life? “I can’t help it! I haven’t been able to see him other than in the gym for more than a few minutes. It’s meet-season, so it’s been getting harder to see him more often.”

“What the hell is a meat season? Is he a chef now too?” Huening Kai squawked. Soobin rolled his eyes and was about to correct the younger when Taehyun cut in.

“ _Meet_ season. It’s when swim teams of different universities meet to compete to prepare for actual competition season and beat personal records. Yeonjun happens to be, well, actually, used to be the best one in the team.”

He eyed Soobin. “Yeonjun may be the swim team captain, but he hasn’t properly competed in a year.”

Soobin furrowed his eyebrows. He knew nothing about sports at his own university, of course. Even if he was talking to Yeonjun, he never brought something like this up. “Huh? But isn’t he like our best swimmer?”

Taehyun shrugged. “All I really hear are rumors, and it might be better to hear from him yourself, but I heard something happened to him and during his junior year, in every meet and leading up to competition, he would have false starts. He was supposed to be scouted into the national team that year, but he wasn’t even a consideration.”

Soobin shook his head, still unable to understand. The sweet boy that always led his team loud and proud, what could have pushed him to the point of ruining his own future?

Before he could prod further, he heard a familiar voice enter the café.

“Is that my hoodie you’re wearing?”

The trio looked up to the door, and there he was, the swim team captain himself. His hair was slicked back, revealing a bit of his forehead, and is sporting a trench coat, dress shoes, and skinny jeans paired with a white tee. Soobin nearly spat his hot cocoa out. He had never seen Yeonjun in anything other than swim gear or sweats. Though both made him just as attractive, this was just another level that Soobin could barely handle.

“Welcome in!” Huening Kai greeted as he bowed. Taehyun nodded at the pink-haired man. Soobin shot him a gentle smile, earning one back in return. Yeonjun strutted over, sitting himself beside Soobin. He pulled at the light blue hoodie that Soobin had meant to return, but never had the time nor courage to. “What happened to returning my clothes?”

Soobin blushed, scratching the back of his neck. “I, uh, was going to, but you got really busy so…” He shrugged. “I can give it to you now if you want!”

Just as he was trying to remove the hoodie, Yeonjun’s lips formed an ‘o’ and he placed his hands on Soobin’s to stop him. “No, no, it’s okay! Y’know what, you can keep it. And the jeans.”

Taehyun watched this interaction with much interest and snickered. “Yeah, maybe if Yeonjun-sunbae decides to stay over one night, he’ll already have clothes at our place.”

The pair stared at Taehyun with wide eyes, their cheeks lightly dusted pink.

“Taehyun-ah,” Soobin whined. “Please shut up for once in your life.” He glanced over at Yeonjun to his left. “Well, now you know Taehyun. He’s one of my roommates and he’s also in the weightlifting club.”

The two shook hands, Yeonjun looking at him with a sense of familiarity. “Ah, you’re Beomgyu’s boyfriend! Nice to finally meet you.”

“You know our Beomgyu?” Huening Kai questioned. Yeonjun nodded, reaching out to shake his hand. Huening Kai slapped it as if it were a hi-five rather than shook it, earning a confused look from the eldest. “I’m Huening Kai, by the way, Soobin’s other annoying roommate. You might’ve heard Beomgyu complain about me sometimes.”

Yeonjun chuckled and nodded. “Beomgyu is my roommate, that’s how we know each other.” He turned to Taehyun. “You’ve been the muse of his latest art project, so I wondered why you were so familiar.”

Taehyun’s usual poker face broke just the slightest, a small smile gracing his lips.

“Anyways, I was just here to grab an Americano and relax, I didn’t know you come to this place,” Yeonjun said, looking at no one in particular but all were aware that this was directed towards Soobin.

Taehyun kicked Soobin’s shin lightly to grab his attention. _You said you wanted to spend time with him outside the gym, now’s your chance_ , he mouthed.

Soobin wasn’t the biggest fan of his friends attempting to meddle into his love life, but he couldn’t deny that Taehyun was right.

“I… I do, but, um, I was actually about to head out, and if you wanted to hang out, well, uh…”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Huening Kai clapped his hands together, deciding that he was done listening to them stutter like lovesick fools. “I’ll grab you that coffee, sunbae-nim, and you two can be on your way!”

“Call me hyung, Huening-ah!” Yeonjun called out, leaning forward and into Soobin’s body. Soobin smiled at him and his friends. If he couldn’t date him, he was at least grateful that he got along with his friends.

**

“I hate the rain,” Soobin said with a scrunch of his nose. Yeonjun saw this and chuckled, tapping his nose with his finger. “You look like a bunny when you do that. It’s cute.”

“Hyung…” Soobin whined. Nevertheless, he flushed and shoved Yeonjun playfully.

“I like the rain,” Yeonjun said, looking up at the sky. “I love listening to it fall against the window while I’m at home, eating ramen and just lazing the day away.” His eyes suddenly sparkled. “Oh! Soobinie, why don’t you come over? You said you always wanted to try my cooking. I make the best ramen, no lie.”

Soobin giggled. “Everyone says they make the best ramen, how is yours any different?”

“Wow, first of all, I’m offended. Second of all, fine, we’ll just part ways here and you won’t see me again until our winter break.”

And that was how Soobin found himself in Yeonjun’s apartment. It was nothing like his, with sleek architecture, clean furniture and was that a touch screen fridge? He had walked in and the place was warm, whereas at Soobin’s apartment, it was always freezing cold. Seeing how Beomgyu could afford such nice art supplies and Yeonjun always had something luxurious to wear, Soobin could safely assume the two were quite well off, and of course their apartment reflected that.

“You wanna switch heaters, Yeonjunnie?” Soobin asked teasingly. Yeonjun snorted in response.

“If your apartment is that bad, pick up more hours, Bin-ah,” Yeonjun retorted with a playful smile, cracking an egg into the boiling pot of ramen. “Or you can always stay over.”

What seemed like an innocent suggestion to Yeonjun was _not_ to Soobin, as he choked on his water. He tended to forget all bodily functions whenever Yeonjun decides to pull shit like that, and it was not funny. No matter how tempting it sounds.

“I’m not trying to come off as a freeloader, hyung, I have some pride, but if you’re offering…” Soobin said, shooting Yeonjun a dorky smile as the pink-haired brought over two bowls of steaming ramen. Soobin eyed them with doe eyes, and at that, Yeonjun laughed and pinched his cheeks.

“So cute, chubs.”

Soobin rolled his eyes. There was that nickname again. Not that he hated it. Yeonjun tended to use it with the most loving eyes and smile, and he could never bring himself to argue.

As he waited for his ramen to cool down, he looked around the living area, seeing a few trophies and medals from Yeonjun’s swimming competitions. He remembered Taehyun’s words and noticed that these awards were from Yeonjun’s first and second year.

Whatever this rumor was, as much as Soobin didn’t want to pry, it wasn’t something he wanted to hear from anyone else. “Can I ask you something personal?” Soobin asked. He could feel Yeonjun stiffen beside him and he immediately brought his hand to Yeonjun’s in order to comfort him. “Ah, it’s nothing serious. I just…” He looked down and blushed, retracting his hand. “Sorry.”

Yeonjun stared at his own hand blankly, then up at Soobin. He gave him a reassuring smile, then proceeded to put his hand back on Soobin’s. “What is it?”

The younger gulped, then squeezed Yeonjun’s hand as he carefully said, “Did something… bad happen to you last year?” He gestured to the swimming awards and continued, “I just noticed that you don’t have anything from the year before and I heard something about it but,” Soobin scooted closer to his hyung, noticing that Yeonjun wasn’t looking at him anymore and his hand was loose in his hold, “I didn’t want to ask around about it and assume things. I thought I would ask you, but if you’re not comfortable sharing it with me, I understand. I don’t want to push any boundaries.”

The silence was deafening. Soobin patiently waited for an answer, rubbing Yeonjun’s hand with his thumb gently. The mood was broken when his stomach growled, echoing across the apartment. Yeonjun broke from his trance and chuckled, though there was no emotion behind it. He motioned for Soobin to eat.

He did as he was told, feeling slightly awkward as Yeonjun hadn’t answered him yet. They ate in silence, aside from the occasional slurp. Eventually, the two finished, and Yeonjun tugged him up on to the couch from the floor by the coffee table. Soobin watched him closely, noticing how Yeonjun’s behavior was timid and more careful than before, his arms hugging his torso. This wasn’t the Yeonjun he was familiar with.

“I went through a really bad breakup at the beginning of that year,” Yeonjun started, his voice shaky. “Well, actually, it wasn’t really a breakup ‘cause I don’t think what we had was even a relationship.”

Soobin looked at him curiously but didn’t dare to speak a word. He was thankful enough that he was even giving him an answer.

“I wasn’t out to my family yet, and I guess he was in denial about his sexuality, because we were together for months and yet the only time we were ever together was in the safety of our own apartments. He would never hold my hand, take me out, nothing.”

Soobin’s blood boiled. Yeonjun deserved more than that, he deserved the world. He cautiously placed his hand on Yeonjun’s knee. Yeonjun smiled at the gesture.

“Right before meet season, he told me it was over. Then proceeded to tell everyone in his frat, everyone at the _school_ , that I was gay. He covered it up by saying I came onto him. He was so insecure that he had to make me out to look like a predator or something. And you know, word goes around, and somehow my parents caught wind of it when they came to a meet to watch and… my mom was supportive but my dad, he… I…”

At that moment, Yeonjun broke down crying. Soobin panicked and pulled the boy onto his lap, holding him tightly and rubbing his back. “Oh Jun-hyung… I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. To have your coming out taken away from you and twisted to make him the victim, your parents…”

Yeonjun hiccupped and sniffled into Soobin’s shoulder, not being able to conjure up a response. All Soobin could do was whisper sweet nothings into his ear and hope he could calm him down.

“I-I couldn’t swim properly the whole season, Bin. My dad h-hated me, half the university thought I was some sort of f- _freak_ and I believed that I deserved to be failure because of it all,” Yeonjun managed to stammer as soon as his cries started to die down. “The rumors buried themselves eventually, my dad and I are fine now, and I never saw my ex again… but that doesn’t mean the scars aren’t there anymore.”

Soobin sighed in exasperation, mostly due to thinking that there were people out there that thought of Yeonjun in such a negative light. It angered him. Yeonjun took this the wrong way and escaped his embrace. “I-I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable with me. You must think-“

“ _Yeonjun_.”

The swimmer shut his mouth at Soobin dropping the formalities.

Soobin was not one to talk much but seeing _practically_ the love of his life so insecure and unsure of himself hurt. He wanted to wipe it all away. He wanted to be the reason Yeonjun truly felt loved.

“You… are a fighter. You are so beautiful and strong and kind and nothing like whatever the rumors put you out to be. All I see is a happy-go-lucky idiot who makes dumb puns just to make others laugh. An amazing captain and friend. Someone who would go out of his way for anyone just to make sure they’re comfortable and okay. You are a breath of fresh air in this polluted world, Yeonjun, that’s who you are, and I will do whatever it takes to make you believe it.”

Yeonjun blinked once, then twice, a bit taken aback by such a passionate profession. Then he began to cry again. Soobin at this point was sweating from the panic-caused adrenaline. He hugged Yeonjun again. “Hyung, c’mon, please stop crying. Did I say something wrong?”

“No, you stupidly sweet idiot, you said everything I have always wanted to hear,” Yeonjun whined through the tears.

The front door opened. Soobin looked up to see Yeonjun’s roommate, Beomgyu.

“Yah, Choi Soobin, what did you do to make my Jun-hyung cry?!” Beomgyu bellowed, running in as soon as he heard Yeonjun crying.

Yeonjun giggled, and Soobin sighed in relief at Yeonjun finally laughing in earnest, wiping his tears away with his arm. “Nothing ‘Gyu, just giving Soobin the rundown of my shitty past, is all.”

Beomgyu stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms with a pout. “I thought you were done talking about that. It hurts to see you break down any time it’s brought up.” He looked at Soobin. “It doesn’t look like it, but Yeonjun-hyung is the most sensitive person you will ever know.”

Soobin’s eyes widened. “I’m so-“

“No, don’t apologize.” Yeonjun shook his head adamantly, deciding he was finally over the crying-fest and began to pick up the dishes, gesturing for Beomgyu to help. “You deserve to know, Soobin.” He turned to face Soobin, a look of determination and inspiration in his eyes. Soobin looked up at him in awe. Yeonjun was truly something else.

“Besides, thanks to you, it’s not about becoming an Olympic swimmer anymore. I’m more determined than ever to get over my false start curse.”

**

Soobin had stayed the rest of the day, studying with Beomgyu while Yeonjun cleaned up and calmed himself down. At some point, Beomgyu had taken initiative to invite the two to Taehyun’s first weightlifting competition in December, less than two months away.

“I expect colorful signs, high energy, and a lot of money for barbeque and soju afterwards,” Beomgyu had said, pointedly looking at Yeonjun when he had returned from his room.

From then on, Soobin and Yeonjun were basically inseparable. Wherever Soobin was, Yeonjun was, and vice versa. Of course, Soobin didn’t complain. This was more than he ever wanted, and he wasn’t about to do anything to break the trust that Yeonjun seemed to have with him now. If there was one thing Soobin was good at, it was keeping promises.

They developed a routine. Yeonjun still had team practices some nights and some mornings, but they were less often as the swim team was in meet season mode, some weekends spent in the university’s pool or at other university’s pools. Soobin would get an extra free coffee or pastry from Arin for Yeonjun whenever he had team practices, and if Yeonjun happened to be at the gym at night, he would take Soobin home in his car.

Their gym routine eventually developed outside the gym. Yeonjun started to join Soobin’s group in the café Sunday mornings before an exam week or just whenever Huening Kai was working, meet in either Soobin or Yeonjun’s apartment to hang out, or sit in the library to dick around when they should be doing assignments.

It wasn’t just Yeonjun, as Soobin would make an effort to catch a train to Yeonjun’s swim meets, whether they be on or off campus, either with Beomgyu, Taehyun, Huening Kai, or on his own, if his schedule allowed.

Soobin had never seen Yeonjun swim before, let alone any sport unless it was Taehyun weightlifting, so the first time he had went was with his main trio. Beomgyu was the only one out of them all that had seen Yeonjun swim before. He had said that the first one Soobin was seeing was Yeonjun’s first meet – 100m freestyle, whatever that meant - and Soobin knew how nervous he must have been. He had been discussing this meet with Soobin for days.

(“What if I run a false start again?” Yeonjun sighed. They were in Soobin’s room, the night before the first meet. It was on campus, which should put Yeonjun at ease, but it made him even more nervous.

“Hyung, you’ve been practicing so well in the recreational pool. So far, you’ve managed to start a little late, which is better than completely disqualifying yourself,” Soobin assured, surprising himself at how much knowledge he picked up from watching the swim team for so long. At this point, he could promote himself from front desk assistant to swim team assistant if he tried.

“They’re all gonna laugh at me, Soobin. Everyone knows I’m the ‘false start guy’, I stick out like a sore thumb! What if I get all freaked out again and psych myself out to the point I dive in early?” Yeonjun at this point was pacing around, rubbing his arms from how cold it was in Soobin’s apartment but also from how nervous he was. Soobin furrowed his eyebrows. He hated seeing Yeonjun so… un-Yeonjun-like. Where was his confident swim team captain?

He grabbed Yeonjun’s arm and pulled him with him onto his bed, forcing the swimmer to cuddle with him. Mostly for warmth, Soobin tried to convince himself. “So, what if you do? I know your goal was to get over this curse of yours, but you can’t expect yourself to be perfect on the first try. As long as you just _try_ , it’s better than nothing. As long as those nasty thoughts in your head aren’t as loud as before, that’s improvement already. It’s the small wins that count.”

Yeonjun exhaled heavily, seemingly letting all his worries go through breathing. He nuzzled himself into Soobin’s embrace even deeper. Soobin gasped quietly and felt his face warm up, biting his lip to keep himself from cooing.

“I’m sorry to have to make you play therapist for me all the time, Bin-ah. It shouldn’t be like this,” Yeonjun apologized.

“I’m not playing therapist because you're not my patient; I just happen to be a psychology major who cares really deeply about others.")

“Let’s go Yeonjun-hyungie! The man, the myth, the legend himself!” Huening Kai screamed, flailing his hands at Yeonjun, who was prepping himself at the starting block. The pink-haired – well, he was wearing a cap and goggles, both pink, so pink- _capped_ rather – looked up to see faces other than Beomgyu in the crowd. He smiled in embarrassment at Huening Kai. Taehyun waved a small flag to get a reaction out of Yeonjun too, and when that wasn’t enough, he grabbed Beomgyu’s hand with his free one and waved it around as well. Beomgyu just stared at at Taehyun in surprise, as his energetic and cute side was a rarity on its own.

Soobin didn’t have to do much. Seeing him in the stands with an awkward smile, looking like he was pretending to not know the three boys beside him, was more than enough for Yeonjun. He wanted to make him proud. The boy had done so much for him without him asking, and for that, Yeonjun thought that he deserved to see him avoid a false start in a non-practice setting.

A whistle blew loudly, signaling for the swimmers to get positioned on their starting blocks. “Swimmers, take your mark,” an announcer spoke.

Yeonjun took a deep breath in, bending himself forward on the block. The last time he was at a meet was exactly a year ago. So many judgmental eyes on him, the proud look on his dad’s face that was ripped away when he found out, people whispering behind his back, it all came back to Yeonjun. He tried to focus his breathing, shutting out any noise in his own head.

_He’s nothing to me, just a pansy who likes to wear tight spandex while flailing in the water._

Yeonjun shut his eyes, shaking his head, trying to think of _anything_ that will get these hurtful words out of his head.

_He swims to lure straight boys into his bedroom. What a creep._

Yeonjun _knew_ these were words stuck in the past. He didn’t hear these anymore, at least not directly behind his back or in his face, but after months of Beomgyu and his friends convincing him that no one thought like that anymore, he tried his best to believe them. It didn’t mean they still didn’t echo in his mind every now and then, haunting him.

Yeonjun peeked up just to take one good look at Soobin. He needed his rock, his anchor. He needed him to pull him away from the mess that was mind. He couldn’t hear Soobin, but what he was saying was obvious. “ _You can do it, chubs.”_

The blank gun went off and Yeonjun flinched. The other swimmers had jumped in already, but Yeonjun wasn’t too far behind, only having delayed himself by a few seconds.

For a late start, he could make up with power and speed. He started his freestyle stroke, easily catching up to the others in front of him.

But he couldn’t have cared less what he placed as he spun and pushed against the pool wall to swim back to the start. He tried, and despite hearing those negative thoughts, he managed to avoid disqualification and barely place 4th.

Yeonjun expected worse, though his ego fumed, wishing he could’ve placed higher. However, that thought left his mind when he looked up and saw his friends jumping and screaming like he had won gold at the Olympics. Soobin, especially, was sacrificing his shyness and twirling his jacket in the air and whooping “chubs” like a madman, getting the rest of their friends to join him. Now every student who came to the meet was going to know Yeonjun and Soobin’s stupidly cute nickname for each other, whether they understood the context or not. It should have been very embarrassing, but Yeonjun found it endearing and even heartwarming. They were out here loud and proud just for him. Yeonjun never had that before.

He grinned and splashed the pool water in the air, matching their energy. He didn’t care that the other swimmers were looking at him weird. Yeonjun had placed, and in swim-meets to come, he made sure he did. All he needed to do was think of Soobin.


	3. meet season (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyone see their 2nd anniversary debut vlive ?? yeonbin literally out here bickering abt calling each other 'chubs' again it's a sIGN
> 
> anyways!! i do not know anything abt weightlifting competitions aside from what i googled so nothing is 100% accurate

dec. 15

**_yeonbin unite_ **

**huening kai renamed the group to _yeonbin unite: code red_**

hello losers

_5:53pm_

**beomgyu**

i’m literally right next to you?? what’s wrong

_5:53pm_

**taehyun**

we literally made this plan foolproof aka huening kai proof

_5:54pm_

also i go up to lift in like 45 min so make this quick

_5:54pm_

um

_5:55pm_

we may need to adjust the plan a bit

or abandon it altogether

_5:56pm_

yeonjun’s ex is here

_5:57pm_

**TWO DAYS BEFORE TAEHYUN’S COMPETITION**

Huening Kai had stormed into Taehyun’s room (quite rudely, as him and Beomgyu were enjoying a nice night cuddling, watching a movie) with a girl with long brown hair in tow. Beomgyu sighed, pausing the movie, while Taehyun raised his eyebrows questionably.

“May I help you?” the blonde inquired in annoyance.

“Arin-noona, that’s Taehyun, and that’s Beomgyu,” Huening Kai panted, throwing his hand out to indicate who was who. The girl – Arin – smiled apologetically and bowed. “Hi, sorry for intruding.”

“What is this all about?” Beomgyu grunted, clearly pissed at Huening Kai’s intrusion.

“This is Arin-noona, she’s in my math teaching skills class. Also, she works at the gym café.”

Taehyun had seen her in the gym a lot, giving her a nod. “We’re familiar. Are you here to hang out with Hueningie?”

She shook her head, looking to Huening Kai. “Um, no, actually, I’m- well, _we’re_ here to talk to you guys about Soobin… and Yeonjun.”

Huening Kai invited himself on the bed, hopping up to sit criss-cross at the end and patting the spot beside him, where Arin sat timidly. Beomgyu tilted his head in confusion. “Why are we all gathered to talk about our hyungs? Am I missing something?”

Huening Kai clapped his hands together before explaining. “I had gone to the gym today and I was there because Soobin and I were supposed to go get ice cream after his shift, so while waiting I was just talking to Arin-noona about this really cute dog I saw on the way there-“

“Get to the point, Huening-ah!” Beomgyu cried in exasperation.

Huening Kai flinched and laughed awkwardly. “Ah, right. Um, so basically, Soobin was just about to leave when Yeonjun came out, having just finished practice. Soobin invited him to our ice cream outing, so I naturally invited Arin-noona, and then I saw this _look_ on Yeonjun’s face,” he proceeded to copy the exact facial expression he saw, a quick up-and-down look towards Arin with a small but barely noticeable frown, “and I realized that he was jealous of Arin. So, I watched him the whole time we were getting ice cream. Every time Soobin talked to her, Yeonjun would pull the same face and either pretend to talk to me or cling to Soobin like he’s his lifeline or something. It was disgusting.”

“So… not only does Soobin like Yeonjun, but Yeonjun likes Soobin too?” Taehyun asked.

Arin nodded. “I work almost the same shifts as Soobin, and not that it offends me because I literally have no interest in Soobin whatsoever,” insert Huening Kai cackling in the background here, “but Yeonjun always looks really envious whenever Soobin talks to me. It’s kind of hilarious but also tiring to pretend to not notice.”

“I hate how surprising this is, considering how protective Yeonjun-hyung is of his own heart,” Beomgyu sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. “He must really like and trust Soobin to let his guard down this much.”

“Those two are _so_ perfect for each other that I come close to calling in sick whenever they come in the café, and I’m already at work! I can’t call in sick in front of my own boss!” Huening Kai exclaimed. “That’s why I propose we conjure up a plan to get them together.”

As much as Taehyun hated Huening Kai’s schemes, messing with Soobin was one of his favorite past times. This would be fun. “I’m in. Though, why is Arin-ssi involved?”

“She’s the center of our whole plot.”

**1 HOUR BEFORE TAEHYUN’S COMPETITION**

The plan was quite simple. Arin and Huening Kai would arrive separately from Soobin, Yeonjun and Beomgyu. Arin and Huening Kai would find them at the stands and Beomgyu would ask Huening Kai to help him get the flowers and signs for Taehyun that he purposely would forget back in Yeonjun’s car. From there, Arin would try to initiate as much conversation with Soobin to get Yeonjun as jealous as possible before making an accidental comment about how much the two liked each other. From there, Huening Kai hoped that would be enough to instigate something.

It was running smooth so far. Everyone had arrived at the venue and Beomgyu, Soobin, and Yeonjun were settling down in their seats.

“There they are! Hyungs!” Huening Kai called out. Alongside Arin, the two found their way to the group, seated near the stage where the weightlifters would be evaluated.

Arin reached out to hug Soobin, exclaiming how long it had been since she last saw him, when it had only been a few days. The look on Yeonjun’s face was a sight to be seen as he breathed out his nose and turned his head away from the scene. Huening Kai almost lost it.

“Ah, I forgot to grab the posters and Taehyun’s flowers!” Beomgyu said, smacking his head like he was an idiot. His acting wasn’t the best, but it was believable enough. “Huening-ah, can you come with me to grab them?”

Before Yeonjun could protest, seeing as how they were things that were in _his_ car, Huening Kai agreed. They were gone before Yeonjun could get a word in.

“Hi, Yeonjun-ssi,” Arin greeted, bowing politely. Yeonjun just smiled at her, not wanting to be rude but also not wanting to acknowledge her more than the given formalities. Soobin could feel the weird tension in the air. Yeonjun usually was extremely friendly.

He tried to initiate some conversation by bringing up a common interest. “Y’know, Arin-noona likes mint choco, which I don’t really understand-“

“Why? What’s wrong with mint choco?” Arin whined, slapping Soobin’s arm playfully. This was her opening, and just as she was instructed, Arin took it in stride.

It’s not like Yeonjun didn’t want to join in the conversation – he liked mint choco too – but with the way Soobin and Arin were bickering and talking, it didn’t seem like there was any need for him to add his own thoughts, despite being the type to make sure his voice was heard. This was a situation in which he was the third wheel; trying to butt in would only make things worse.

Yeonjun quietly excused himself, saying he was going to buy some snacks from the food stands. Of course, Soobin had noticed. “Oh, hyung, let’s all go! I’m hungry too.”

The three meandered around the venue, Arin pardoning herself to the bathroom, saying she’ll find them and catch up. The two ended up in line for _bunggeopang_ , which Yeonjun had purposely stopped at, knowing it was one of Soobin’s favorite. He cheered silently in his head when he saw the boy giggle in excitement at the realization.

As they waited in line, Soobin couldn’t help but notice how quiet Yeonjun was. “Yeonjunnie, are you okay? You haven’t talked much since we got here,” Soobin said, facing his hyung in worry.

Yeonjun forced a smile and hummed. “Mm, I’m alright Bin-ah.”

Soobin wasn’t convinced. At this point, he could read Yeonjun like an open book, and Yeonjun knew that.

“…is it Arin? Does she make you uncomfortable? We can-“

“Well if it isn’t Choi Yeonjun himself.”

Arin returned from the bathroom, though she stopped in her tracks when she saw the pair talking to a taller, intimidating looking man. He didn’t look like a good person and the way he was looking at Yeonjun was very menacing. It made Arin shiver.

She had a bad feeling about this, so she whipped out her phone and called Huening Kai.

**_yeonbin unite: code red_ **

**beomgyu**

where are they

shit this is not good

_5:59pm_

**huening kai added arin to the chat**

the floor is urs queen

_6:00pm_

**arin**

UM SO

I’M NEAR THE BUNGGEOPANG STAND

THERE’S A GUY TALKING TO THEM

HE LOOKS LIKE HE’S GONNA EAT YEONJUN

NOT IN A GOOD WAY

I’M SCARED

_6:02pm_

**taehyun**

do i need to come out and give someone a piece of my mind

bc i will

_6:02pm_

**beomgyu**

as hot as that sounds

you have a competition to smash

not an actual person

tho we can talk abt smashing later ;)

_6:03pm_

NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO B HORNY BEOMGYU

IM SO TIREDDDDD

_6:03pm_

anyways

just wait there arin

beom and i r on the way

_6:04pm_

“S-Seunghyun-ah…” Yeonjun mumbled, lifting his arms to hug his body. Soobin saw this, knowing that this was a protective stance. The last time he saw this was when Yeonjun had cried to him about his past. If Soobin assumed correctly, the man – Seunghyun – was Yeonjun’s ex.

“Didn’t take you as someone into weightlifting,” Seunghyun said, raising his eyebrow with a smirk. “You probably get a kick out of watching guys show off, huh?”

If Soobin wasn’t such a reasonable person, he would’ve knocked this guy into next week in an instant. However, as he saw Arin, Beomgyu and Huening Kai trying to inch their way closer into the conversation to try to help out, he had a better idea, making sure he gave them a look that told them to stay out of this one.

Yeonjun was trying his best to say something, a retort, a snarky comment, _anything_ to show Seunghyun that he was not affected by him anymore. However, he hadn’t been confronted by his ex in over a year and seeing him brought back horrible memories that he had tried to hide away for so long.

Before he could try to mumble his way out of confronting Seunghyun, he felt a hand intertwine with his. Yeonjun looked down, tracing the hand up until he saw Soobin looking at him with a soft smile, his dimples barely poking out.

“We’re here to see our friend Taehyun weightlift today.” Soobin whipped out his free hand for Seunghyun to shake, making sure their eyes met. Seunghyun was clearly shocked. “I’m Soobin, Yeonjun’s boyfriend. You are…?”

_Boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend._ Yeonjun’s mind was suddenly filled with that one word. He was left gob smacked, unable to say anything or do anything other than open and close his mouth like a fish.

Seunghyun looked between the two, debating whether to continue the conversation or run away. Regretfully, he took Soobin’s hand. “Seunghyun. An old friend of Yeonjun’s.”

Soobin’s lips twitched at this. _Old friend?_ _He must still be insecure about his past relationship with Yeonjun._ “Really? Well, it would be nice to hear all about Junnie. We only started dating recently.” Yeonjun’s eyes widened as he blushed furiously.

“Soobin-ah…” Yeonjun whined, tugging at the younger’s hand. He silently begged him to just leave it, but there was a fire in Soobin’s eyes. Once he saw this, he decided to back down. He trusted that Soobin knew what he was doing.

“Ah, so cute,” Soobin laughed, making Yeonjun’s shyness look more endearing rather than fearful. “Isn’t he so cute?” He leaned in to kiss the temple of his forehead. Not something he would’ve dared attempted otherwise, but Yeonjun’s ex was here and Soobin was determined to piss him off.

The pair made it to the front of the line. Soobin glanced at Seunghyun beside them, who wasn’t in line for food, and began to order. “My _boyfriend_ and I would like two _bunggeopang_ , please.” He turned to Seunghyun with a puffed-up chest and sickingly sweet smile. “Actually, would you like one too, Seunghyun-ssi?”

Seunghyun looked very uncomfortable to be there all of a sudden. “Uh, no, I’m good… oh, look at the time! I have to go.”

Without another word or glance, Seunghyun fled. Soobin hummed to himself and continued to order, adding an extra three orders for his stupefied friends in the background, his hand still interlocked with an extremely flustered Yeonjun.

**

Taehyun had successfully lifted his weight as well as an additional weight heavier, earning him a bronze medal as he stumbled a bit on his jerk lifts. Despite beating himself up about his small faults, he couldn’t hide his joy seeing his boyfriend and his friends with huge signs, cheering for him as he exited the back room.

Beomgyu shoved the flowers in his face happily, showering him with kisses shamelessly. Taehyun couldn’t help but laugh and embrace him.

He noticed Soobin’s and Yeonjun’s hands linked together before they separated and gave Taehyun a hug. The blonde pulled Beomgyu aside as he finished receiving congratulations from Huening Kai and Arin.

“Are they finally a thing?” Taehyun whispered. He glanced back at the group, seeing Arin roll her eyes as Huening Kai and Yeonjun wrestled for something. Probably Soobin’s last bunggeopang.

“I don’t know. Yeonjun’s ex, Seunghyun, ended up getting one-upped by Soobin and now the two are just holding hands without question.” Beomgyu looked down to Taehyun’s exposed arms. “Wow… you need to wear muscle tees more often.”

Taehyun rolled his eyes, blushing under his boyfriend’s intense stare. “This is not what we wanted the end goal to be. We’re going to have to resort to plan B.”

“…babe, we don’t have a plan B.”

“Well, _I do_ , because you idiots don’t prepare enough. No offense, love,” Taehyun said, kissing Beomgyu’s pout away.

**

In celebration of Taehyun placing, per his (mostly Beomgyu through Taehyun) request, they went to a barbeque joint nearby. Arin had bid her goodbyes, as she was not available the rest of the night. Huening Kai, not aware there was a plan B In action, had tried begging her to stay, leading to Beomgyu dragging him by the ear outside as they walked Arin to the nearest bus stop.

“We have a different plan, doofus! Catch up!”

Huening Kai’s mouth hung open in an ‘o’. Arin giggled.

“What is it? How come no one tells me what’s going on? WE HAVE A GROUP CHAT FOR A REASON???”

“This plan has less structure, Taehyun wanted to roll with the punches,” Beomgyu sighed. “Also, he has no faith in you, to be honest.”

Huening Kai screeched in full offense, “C’mon, my plan was pretty good, right Arin-noona?”

Arin bit her lip and shrugged. “I mean, if Seunghyun hadn’t shown up, I don’t think I would’ve done any good.”

“I hate it here,” Huening Kai grumbled. “Okay, what exactly is this ‘unstructured plan’ that’s supposed to be better than mine?”

“It involves soju. A lot of it, so get ready to have a shitty morning,” Beomgyu chuckled maniacally, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I HAVE WORK TOMORROW.”

“QUIT YELLING, THIS IS WHY I COMPLAIN TO YEONJUN ABOUT YOU. YOU STRESS ME OUT.”

Arin rolled her eyes, standing up from the bench as her bus arrived. “Text me when they finally kiss and make up, because if they’re not together by the end of the night, I might just handle this myself.”

**

The first hour was fun. The boys had gathered around the grill, ordering an absurd amount of pork belly and soju, talking about everything and nothing. Taehyun was observant of Soobin, and he noticed how with the addition of Yeonjun in their small friend group, Soobin had this glow about him. He seemed happier. Something about Yeonjun made Soobin talk more and open up more.

“When I first met Soobin, I thought he was mute. All he did while I talked was smile and nod. I also thought he hated me,” Beomgyu laughed, grilling a new set of ribs. “Fill up my glass, hyung?”

Soobin rolled his eyes. “Yah, you left no room for me to even have a word in! If you learned how to listen more and talk less, you and Taehyun would stop coming to me separately for relationship advice whenever you two get into fights.”

Taehyun frowned at Beomgyu, slapping him on the arm. Beomgyu’s eyes widened. “Soobin!”

“Hyung,” he corrected, Yeonjun also chiming in at the same time. The two looked at each other and shared a smile.

“I would rather have a hangover for two days straight than deal with this nauseating behavior,” Huening Kai complained.

“Be careful what you wish for,” Soobin teased with a wink.

The topic of Yeonjun’s ex was brought up quite a lot. To Beomgyu’s surprise, Yeonjun talked about it with ease rather than discomfort. He assumed it was because the alcohol and nice atmosphere, but maybe because Soobin’s hand was in his.

“Soobin-hyung isn’t one to try to pick a fight, let alone stand up for himself verbally,” Taehyun said, clinking his soju bottle with Soobin’s as they both downed about a shot, “so hearing about him pulling something like that for Yeonjun is astounding.”

Yeonjun tilted his head in curiosity, looking at Soobin with a twinkle in his eyes. “I’m honored.”

Soobin smiled, grabbing Yeonjun’s hand easily. “Hey, I’m not _that_ passive. I get protective when it comes to my friends, _especially_ my hyung.”

Taehyun’s plan was to get the two so drunk that they confess to each other at some point in the night, preferably alone, as he was hoping him, Beomgyu, and Huening Kai could slip out at some point.

However, he underestimated how much alcohol said three could take in comparison to the older two. Yeonjun was on his third bottle and his cheeks were warm but he said he was just tipsy, preferring to stop there. Soobin had a good balance of eating and drinking, and was through two bottles but he was bit more buzzed than Yeonjun, though still fully functional.

Huening Kai had said he was confident in his alcohol intake, despite already hiccupping and losing it after half a bottle. Beomgyu was still going strong, but if he tried to have one more shot, he would be gone. And Taehyun himself, well, the floor was seemingly elevated every time he went to the bathroom, and he wasn’t really sure if what he was saying was understandable.

All in all, the three were all drunk and it wasn’t even midnight yet.

“Look! Dessert!” Huening Kai yelled, a bit too loud for normal behavior in a restaurant. He pointed to Yeonjun’s hair and moved his mouth to chomp just the air near his pink strands. Yeonjun rolled his eyes, pushing the maknae away. “I know my hair looks delicious but it’s real hair, not cotton candy.”

However, aside from Soobin, no one was listening clearly. Taehyun was pulling at the skin on Soobin’s arm in fascination. “Sooo squishy. Like mochi.” His eyes widened. “Beommie! I found mochi!” Without thinking, Taehyun attempted to bite Soobin’s arm. Soobin yelped, as the blonde was able to get in a few nips.

“Okay, I think it’s time to go home,” Beomgyu grunted, pulling Taehyun away from trying to eat anymore of Soobin’s arm like a cannibal. He looked to Soobin and Yeonjun with an apologetic expression, mostly because _of course_ they were idiotic enough not to pull off plan B. “Can you guys cover the bill? I’m gonna call for a taxi, I don’t think I’m in a sober enough state to drive.”

Yeonjun nodded. “Don’t worry, ‘Gyu. We got it from here.”

Soobin rolled his eyes as he watched Beomgyu drag the two youngest out the door. “They drank as if they were at freshmen orientation.”

Yeonjun laughed. “Well, they’re lucky they don’t have to foot the bill. Probably did it on purpose.” He looked down at the receipt that was given and felt his eye twitch. “Looks like I’m not eating out for the next two months…”

“Let’s just split it-“

Before Soobin could even touch his wallet, Yeonjun was already at the register, sliding his card for the bitter transaction.

Soobin followed him out the door, a frown still stuck to his face. “You didn’t have to do that, y’know. Just because I’m trying to fix my shitty heater doesn’t mean I can’t afford to drop some extra cash here and there.”

Yeonjun shook his head and stopped, turning to face Soobin as he placed his hands on his arms. “You _literally_ saved me from the embarrassment of breaking down in front of my ex. This is the _least_ I could do for you,” and Soobin couldn’t argue with the way Yeonjun was looking at him with puppy-dog eyes.

“Okay, okay… let me at least walk you home. It’s the least that I can do.” He held out his hand, and Yeonjun hesitated for the first time that day. He stared at it in disappointment, which Soobin noticed. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“Look, Seunghyun isn’t around anymore, so you can just drop the act,” Yeonjun stated abruptly. “Whether you’re pitying me or protecting me, if this is just a friendly gesture, I don’t want it.”

Soobin blinked, dumbfounded. “Huh?”

“I don’t need you to feel bad for me, Soobin,” Yeonjun exhaled in frustration. “I don’t want you to hold my hand just because you can. That’s… that’s not what I want.”

Still confused, Soobin stepped closer. He placed his hands on his shoulders. “Jun-hyung, I still don’t understand. What do you want, exactly?”

Yeonjun sighed and Soobin could feel him shaking underneath his palms. Not knowing it was nerves rather than shivers, Soobin pulled him into his arms without hesitation. The pink-haired mumbled something unfathomable in his shoulder.

“I can’t hear you.” Soobin pulled away slightly, their faces now just mere centimeters away from each other. Soobin’s heart was pounding immensely, so much that he couldn’t feel Yeonjun’s do the same. Maybe it was the alcohol giving him all this courage. He wondered if soju made Yeonjun revert from being overly confident to extremely shy, as he was trying to avoid his eyes as much as possible. “Did you try to say something?”

“I… I said I want you.”

It was so small and so breathy that Soobin had barely heard it among the cars passing by. Not wanting to believe what Yeonjun might have actually meant, he chuckled lightly. “Eyy, you can have me all you want, chubs. I’ll always be here for you.”

Yeonjun turned red. He squirmed his way out of Soobin’s grasp and huffed in exasperation. “No, you’re not getting it, Soobin-ah! I want you!” He proceeded to poke Soobin’s chest at every word.

“I want you to show up at my competitions like Beomgyu with flowers and kisses. I want you to talk to me about everything like you do with Arin. I want you to dote on me with care like you do with Huening Kai. I want you to call me ‘chubs’ when you pick me up from class, after my practices, when we cuddle on the couch, but as something more, not as a friend. I want you to hold my hand and kiss me not as my fake boyfriend, but as my real boyfriend, you idiot!”

As Yeonjun was ranting on about his wants, Soobin couldn’t help but notice a light snow start to fall from the pitch-black sky. He followed the way it would sway onto Yeonjun’s nose, eyelashes, hair, cheeks, and eventually, his lips. He was listening, of course, but as he was hearing all the things Yeonjun wanted from him, he couldn’t help but think how beautiful Yeonjun looked in the first snow of the winter.

In K-drama fashion, it was crucial that you had to be with the one you love when the first snow hits. In this moment, with the snow cascading and Yeonjun standing there practically _begging_ him to be his boyfriend, Soobin decided he believed in fate again.

He stared at him dazedly, and this just set off Yeonjun. “Yah! Are you even listening to me? You asked me what I wanted and I- mmph!”

All of a sudden, Yeonjun wasn’t talking anymore. His lips were shut by another set of lips, just so happening to be Soobin’s. He couldn’t believe it but didn’t waste any time as he moved against Soobin’s, relishing in the slow rhythm he was building. To his surprise and delight, Soobin was a _really_ good kisser. Soobin licked the bottom of his lips gently, causing Yeonjun to gasp before pulling away with a teasing yet shy smile.

“You wouldn’t shut up, so I had to do it for you.”

Yeonjun blinked up at him dumbly. He tried to say something in reply in cool Yeonjun fashion, but all he could utter out was, “What happened to shy Soobin?”

Soobin smirked, leaning down to press another kiss on Yeonjun’s plump lips. They tasted like strawberry soju and Soobin wished they were somewhere more private so he could have a longer taste. “He met the prettiest guy and wanted to be the best version of himself for him.”

Yeonjun could only chuckle at this, his face flushing at something so corny yet so sweet. Then, his eyes widened in realization, his head shooting back up to look at the taller. Soobin looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Wait... so you and Arin aren’t...?”

Soobin looked at him with the most disgusted expression, shaking his head profusely. “Oh nonono. Arin is like a sister. I could never.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you thought I liked her and not you? I thought I was so obvious.”

Yeonjun shrugged, blushing again but this time in embarrassment. “I don’t know, I just thought... why would someone like you like _me_?”

  
Soobin gawked at him. Not caring that they were in the middle of the sidewalk being watched by passerby’s, Soobin kissed Yeonjun again, this time more passionately. Yeonjun melted into the kiss, though despite wanting this as much as Soobin did, he quickly pulled away. “Yah! We’re in public, what are you doing?”

”Trying to tell you how much I like _you_ and no one else. Words just weren’t gonna cut it for me,” Soobin panted. “If I wasn’t clear enough before, I’ll say it again. Choi Yeonjun, I will do _whatever_ it takes to make sure you never feel insecure. If you’ll have me,” he grabbed Yeonjun’s hand and pressed his lips against his cold, white knuckles, “I will make you feel _so_ loved. I promise.”

Soobin wasn’t one to break promises, Yeonjun knew that. He abandoned all doubts in his mind and the nagging devil on his shoulder telling him to run away in fear of being hurt again as he slowly began to smile up at the taller. Looking back, Soobin had proven himself more than once that he genuinely loved him. Here, in his arms, Soobin made Yeonjun feel like he belonged in the world. What kind of person would he be if he refused him?

So Yeonjun pulled Soobin down by the collar and kissed him happily. He pulled away just slightly, leaving Soobin flustered, to say, “Take me out on a date and I’m all yours, chubs. For as long as you’ll have me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we are nearing the end of the fic already :,) this was such a hard chapter to write bc i had like 10 different ways this could've gone and all of them except for the one i posted would make yeonbin endgame in the last chapter, but i rlly wanted to incorporate the kissing scene in the snow from the drama so yEAH here we are :,)
> 
> i've been considering writing the taegyu side of this fic seeing as they could have an interesting story for how they got together, so let me kno in the comments if i should write that!


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